1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to pipelined signal converters.
2. Description of the Related Art
Pipelined analog-to-digital signal converters are attractive choices for high-speed, high-resolution applications (e.g., cable modems in telecommunication systems). By breaking down the total number of desired bits into a cascade (pipeline) of low resolution signal converters, pipelined systems achieve high resolution at sampling speeds that are difficult, if not impossible, to realize with other converter systems.
Although their conversion accuracy is generally high, limitations in elements of current pipeline converter systems do introduce conversion errors and numerous techniques have been proposed to reduce these conversion errors. Some of these techniques, however, do not always maintain their error reduction over variations in parameters such as temperature, fabrication process and supply voltage. In addition, others of these techniques modify the signal conversion path of converter systems and this modification creates a window for introduction of noise which may degrade system accuracy.